The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that evaluates and promotes social and economic policies on the basis of how they benefit Texans with low and moderate income.

The CPPP divides its work into the following categories: - Economic development - Access to public benefits - Child protection - School finance - State and federal tax and budget analysis ...

The younger part of the state’s population doesn’t look like the older part, and a new report suggests we should have a look at that before we make a big mess. You can argue over the recommendations the report makes; the facts, not so much.

The Public Education track at The 2015 Texas Tribune Festival featured panel discussions on turning around struggling schools, pre-K, public education and the Legislature, and charter schools. There was also a conversation with Education Commissioner Michael Williams.

Depending on your political leanings, the spending cap state lawmakers set this week was either too low, too high or just right. Regardless, the arcane measure could effectively block lawmakers from accessing billions of dollars in state revenue.

A coalition of conservative groups set forth a strict proposal for the state’s fiscal future, emphasizing hard spending caps to limit the size of government, with the release Tuesday of a budget report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The Affordable Care Act will increase the average cost of insurance premiums, making health care less affordable for those Texans on whom the system financially depends, according to a Texas Public Policy Foundation report.

Two legislative committees are set to hold hearings on state programs designed to encourage businesses to invest here, about a week after a New York Times series brought increased attention to Texas' approach to such incentives.

A new report says the number of Texas children living in areas of high poverty has increased about 40 percent over the past decade. And as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, advocacy groups hope the data will bolster anti-poverty programs.

The state Legislature heads back to work in less than a year. And as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the state’s improving economy won't likely save legislators from the protracted budget battle that awaits them.

The debate over whether job creation in Texas economy is a "mirage" or a "miracle" raises several questions: What jobs do Texans commonly hold right now? How much do those jobs pay? And what jobs is Texas creating?

The latest Texas jobs numbers will be released today, and a positive report would bolster Gov. Rick Perry's economic message on the campaign trail. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports on the battle to define just how well the Texas economy is doing.

Gov. Rick Perry likes to rail against the Obama administration's "failed" federal stimulus program, but he and state lawmakers have more than $17 billion in fed-stim dollars to thank for the last two balanced Texas budgets.

With school districts across the state passing belt-tightening budgets due to cuts expected at the Legislature, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that some districts are gearing up for legal challenges.

Talk has resumed in the Senate — albeit quietly — about a so-called quality assurance fee, a revenue generator that would effectively tax hospitals to prop up the state’s cash-strapped Medicaid program.

State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, is no fan of "Obamacare." But he told his House colleages this afternoon that if they don't set up a health insurance exchange — one of the tenets of reform — by 2014, the federal government will do it for them.

At Wednesday's TribLive conversation about health care, state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, and Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities talked about what they like and don't like about federal health care reform.

We liveblogged this morning from the Austin Club, where the subject of today's TribLive was health care: the costs — and solutions — for Medicaid, payment reform in Texas vs. the federal health overhaul, and what kind of hit Texas' neediest patients will take.

We need a balanced approach that uses our reserves and adds revenue. And we have to start by casting aside wishful thinking; we are writing the 2012-13 budget, with higher costs and increased enrollment in education and health care services — not some past budget.